gentlemen's houses peeping out from the
midst of green woods and plantations; and I could trace the windings
of the river all along the low grounds, till it was lost behind a
ridge of hills. But I'll tell you what I mean to do, sir, if you will
give me leave.

_Mr. A._ What is that?

_W._ I will go again, and take with me Carey's county map, by which I
shall probably be able to make out most of the places.

_Mr. A._ You shall have it, and I will go with you, and take my pocket
spying-glass.

_W._ I shall be very glad of that. Well--a thought struck me, that as
the hill is called _Camp-mount,_ there might probably be some remains
of ditches and mounds with which I have read that camps were
surrounded. And I really believe I discovered something of that sort
running round one side of the mount.

_Mr, A._ Very likely you might. I know antiquaries have described such
remains as existing there, which some suppose to be Roman, others
Danish. We will examine them further, when we go.

_W._ From the hill I went straight down to the meadows below, and
walked on the side of a brook that runs into the river. It was all
bordered with reeds and flags and tall flowering plants, quite
different from those I had seen on the heath. As I was getting down
the bank to reach one of them, I heard something plunge into the water
near me. It was a large water-rat, and I saw it swim over to the other
side, and go into its hole. There were a great many large dragon-flies
all about the stream. I caught one of the finest, and have got him
here in a leaf. But how I longed to catch a bird that I saw hovering
over the water, and every now and then darting down into it! It was
all over a mixture of the most beautiful green and blue, with some
orange color. It was somewhat less than a thrush, and had a large head
and bill, and a short tail.

_Mr. A._ I can tell you what that bird was--a kingfisher, the
celebrated halcyon of the ancients, about which so many tales are
told. It lives on fish, which it catches in the manner you saw. It
builds in holes in the banks, and is a shy, retired bird, never to be
seen far from the stream where it inhabits.

_W_. I must try to get another sight at him, for I never saw a bird
that pleased me so much. Well--I followed this little brook till it
entered the river, and then took the path that runs along the bank.
On the opposite side I observed several little birds running along the
shore, and making a pipin